Students must be enrolled on a full-time basis every semester. The Graduate School defines full-time status as nine or more credits per semester during the academic year (Fall semester, Spring semester); however, our M.A. program is designed to exceed this minimum number of credits to meet the required academic and clinical competencies for our M.A. degree. There are no regulations on credits during the summer semester to be full time. However, prior to the final year of academic study, students will typically enroll in a May-mester 1 credit course and a 1 credit full-time clinical practicum to meet academic and clinical requirements.

Students must complete and pass a comprehensive oral and written capstone. Students have the option of choosing the Thesis track (9 credits) or the Non-Thesis Clinical Project Track (2 credits) to meet this requirement.  See additional details below under "Thesis and Non-Thesis Option".

School certification is an option available to students. See additional details below under "School Certification Option for Speech-Language Pathologists".  Courses leading to school certification along with additional elective options are typically taken during the final year of the degree program.

Students may follow a thesis or non-thesis track, both of which allow students to meet the ASHA's certification requirements.

Clinical practicum is defined as clinical experience approved by an academic program. It’s designed to foster the continued growth and integration of the knowledge and skills outlined in ASHA Standard IV. Students are required to maintain documentation of academic coursework, practicum hours, and practicum supervision verified by the program.

Clinical practicum at UConn provides students with a wide variety of clinical experiences. The first 25 earned hours of practicum must be obtained under the direct supervision of qualified supervisors at the Speech and Hearing Clinic and/or its contracted sites.

In addition to their initial experiences in the University clinic, students are assigned to a minimum of two off-campus clinical sites during their graduate program. These include settings such as hospitals, private practices, schools, early intervention sites, and rehabilitation centers. Most students will be placed in three external clinical placements during the final three semesters of the program.

The department has worked with various affiliation sites to provide well-rounded experiences for our students. Recent examples include:

Schools

Ashford, Berlin, Bloomfield, Bolton, Eastford, East Windsor, Ellington, Glastonbury, Killingly, Manchester, Mansfield, Norwich, Tolland, Waterbury, and West Hartford.

Healthcare

Baystate Medical Center, Bristol Hospital, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, ECHN-Manchester Memorial Hospital, Hartford Hospital, Hasbro Hospital, Hebrew Health Care, Hospital for Special Care, Hospital of Central Connecticut, Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, Mercy Medical Center, Middlesex Hospital, Pequot Center, Rehabilitation Associates, St. Luke's Hospital, Stony Brook Hospital, Texas Rehab Hospital, UCHC-John Dempsey Hospital, VA, Western Connecticut Health-Danbury Hospital, Windham Community Memorial Hospital, and Yale New Haven Hospital.

Other

Community Child Guidance Clinic, Kidsense, McLaughlin and Associates Birth to Three, and River Street School.

The MA in SLHS allows students to meet all academic and clinical practicum requirements for the ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competency and the State of Connecticut's requirements for licensure in speech-language pathology. The certification program typically requires two years of full-time graduate study beyond the pre-professional background.

According to the Council for Clinical Certification, students must obtain and demonstrate knowledge and skills in eight standard content areas:

• Statistics/science (Standard III-A).
• Basic human communication and swallowing (Standard III-B).
• Communication disorders (Standard IIIC/D).
• Ethical conduct (Standard III-E).
• Research and research integration (Standard III-F).
• Contemporary professional issues (Standard III-G).
• Professional credentials (Standard III-H).
• Oral and written skills (Standard IV-B).

Students achieve the standards for knowledge and skills through the completion of a minimum of 75 credit hours of coursework in these eight content areas, obtained through courses taken at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Additionally, students must obtain a minimum of 400 clock hours of supervised clinical practicum. At least 375 hours must be in direct client/patient contact and 25 hours must be in clinical observation (325 hours must be earned during enrollment in the graduate program). An intensive summer session of supervised clinical experience between the first and second year is required for completing the clinical hours requirement of the certification program.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who work in Connecticut public schools must have school certification. Through an arrangement with the Neag School of Education, students enrolled in the MA in SLHS program can fulfill requirements leading to certification as an SLP for employment in Connecticut's public schools. Students are required to complete coursework in special education, regular education, human development or psychology, classroom instruction and management, and health. An SLP practicum assignment (EPSY 5188) in a public school setting enables a student to complete student teaching requirements for certification while they are enrolled in the MA program.